Air pocket under skin after attack?

[flnatv]

I had a dog attack last Friday and I have had a girl in the bathroom healing.
She had abrasions on her back up under her wing.
My best scenario is the dogs grabbed a large portion of feathers and ripped them out.
She is healing very nicely and is now coming out of the bathtub (pooping on my floor none the less

even found her up on the vanity

) so I think she is feeling better,

BUT.......
on the other side under her wing where there were no abrasions/sores... it feels and looks like her skin has separated from the muscle and there is air underneath.

anyone experience this? what do I need to do for her at this point? she doesn't appear to be hurting, but I don't want her suffering and not know it. It doesn't seem to bother her when I poke around, but I also don't want to do much of that either.

If you need pictures... I will post them, but not sure you can see much with them.
She is a BSL and is about 10 weeks old now.

Edited: I know it isn't an abscess as I have worked for vets and dog rescue and know what to look for... this area is not hot and isn't filled with anything but "air".

 

[silkiechicken]

Sounds like could be ruptured air sac. Bird lungs are a bit different than mammal lungs. I don't have experience with such injuries, but don't think there is much you can do other than wait and let it heal.

 

[flnatv]

Quote:
are they know to heal?

 

[silkiechicken]

That I am not sure of because I've never dealt with it myself. It's been 4 days since the attack, so if there were major internal injuries she probably would not be here now. As long as she's up and around without broken skin that can get infected...I'd not worry about her and let her back out.

 

[TeamChaos]

I'm dealing with a dog bite on one of my girls and she had an air pocket above the open wound- I've been treating the wound and keeping it clean and the air pocket has reduced some in size also. At first I thought the dog punctured a lung, but she hasn't had any trouble breathing, then I was worried it was infection deep in the wound that was putting off gases but I wasn't about to pop that bubble since I saw no evidence of infection. As weird as it may sound, I think it might just be how chicken skin reacts to trauma. Best of luck!

 

[flnatv]

Quote:
Please keep me informed on how she does... if I come across something else I will post it here as well.... maybe the two of us can help them.




The side with the open wound is healing, but I am still worried about flies laying eggs... so she will stay in the bathroom until completely healed and her "friend" will come in to make visits... hoping this will help when I put her back out.

 

[TeamChaos]

My girl put up such a fight that I was sure she'd hurt herself worse, so after three days of healing in the house (also in the bathroom, I'm surprised my family hasn't complained yet, there was no place to pee without an audience for a while:/) I allowed her to return to her flock. I've kept her separated from the roosters and have been making the boys wait to go to bed until it's nearly dark- that way there's no time for romance before bed but today when I went to clean her wound, the scab came off- I guess it was false healing. So I washed the wound, slathered her with vetricyn and a top layer of blukote then sprayed the whole bird with adams spray in hopes of cutting down on fly interest. The bubble looks smaller, almost like how a blister reabsorbs-

 

[flnatv]

LOL... Judy gets loads of attention.. it is the bathroom everyone uses...
I do notice it takes a long time to use the restroom now... sometimes 30minutes or more... and quite frequently I may add...

I thought of putting her in the barn at night and bringing her back in during the day hours... haven't decided yet... I teach school so I am not having to have a schedule right now and am just rolling with the flow.

Edited: put her in the barn tonight and she picked up where she left off

Maybe bringing in the girl from the barn some helped.
Would appreciate any more input.

 

[C0untrygirl82]

My go to lady at the feed store punctured the bubble under my 4 week old red sex link, Georgia's wing with a scalpel. They were raised by a Broody hen but were becoming integrated well into the flock. Not sure how it happened but she's now on teramycin in her water and topical antibiotic ointment. Ive moved her and the other chick, Indiana inside in a brooder until they are old enough maybe 8 to 10 weeks to go back out. Good luck!

 

[casportpony]

You might find some useful info here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/828000/subcutaneous-emphysema-pictures-added

-Kathy